FIA stewards explain why Oliver Bearman 'dangerous' excuse was rejected

The FIA stewards believe there was no mitigating circumstance as to why Oliver Bearman overtook Carlos Sainz under red-flag conditions during second practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Haas driver Bearman has been hammered with a 10-place grid penalty for a manoeuvre on Sainz following Oscar Piastri's shunt at Ste Devote that saw him lose his front wing.

Despite the session neutralised, Bearman proceeded to pass Williams driver Sainz into La Rascasse, citing the excuse that he felt it more dangerous to slow down than get past Sainz.

The stewards, however, took a dim view of Bearman's remarks and opted to severely punish the Briton, which is almost certain to now see him start at the back of the grid for Sunday's race.

"Well before the overtake, the session had been red-flagged," read a stewards' statement explaining their decision. "The team informed the driver rather late, just before the overtake happened.

"However, it is clear from the video footage that there was a light panel directly in front of the driver which showed the red flag, and the dashboard also indicated the red flag well before the overtake took place.

"The regulations require the drivers to ‘immediately’ reduce speed and proceed slowly back to their respective pits. The same regulations caution drivers of the fact that in a red-flag situation, ‘overtaking is forbidden’ and that drivers should ‘remember that race and service vehicles may be on the track…’.

"The driver claimed that he saw the red flags but decided not to slow down abruptly because he felt that slowing down abruptly would have been more dangerous and that what he did was a safer way of handling the situation.

"We disagreed with his decision to not take steps to slow down sufficiently to avoid overtaking another car and instead proceeding slowly back to the pits, as required.

"The whole purpose of requiring drivers to slow down immediately is for safety. They will not know what is in front of them or the reason for the red flag being shown. This is particularly so in a track like Monaco.

"In the circumstances, there is no mitigating factor for the fact that he overtook a car under a red flag, and we therefore imposed a penalty of a 10-place grid drop for the race and two penalty points."